Might not be the right forum for washing machines but the ones that are only want to sell me stuff... So maybe someone on here can help me.

I have an old washing machine (Bosch WFF 1201) and it has two problems: hot water fill is very slow and all fills are very low level, hardly any water in the machine at all. Been using a hose to fill it and want to try fixing it rather than buying a new one. The second problem (low filling level) I will address some time in the future. First I want to try solve the first problem - slow filling hot water.

I have a gravity boiler but the machine has two filling hoses - red and blue, so I'm guessing the strong cold water pressure can't overpower the hot water as they are separate? Hot water pressure isn't great but I have no problems filling with a hose from the tap. When the filling starts there is a short burst of cold water, then a short burst of hot water but after that hot water just trickles. And after a while it starts "washing" with hardly any water in it. I saw some youtube videos where they tell you to test the valve with a multimeter but I don't have one. But the valve does start and stop the water filling so I'm guessing the problem lies elsewhere? I had the valve taken apart and it's clean so no blockage. It has a metal rod inside which seems to slide up and down just fine. The valve is still working the same after I took it apart so it's not broken (not more broken). I found some second hand ones on ebay which claim to be from working machines but I am hesitant to buy one before I've consulted with someone knowledgeable. Could it be that the operation of the valve depends on high water pressure and because of low hot water pressure it is not staying fully open for long?

Anyway, if any of you guys understand how those things work let me know what the problem might be or what I could do to try to fix it. I'll add a pic of the valves just in case.

There is such a thing as a low pressure valve, for use when the water pressure is low.How ever you should test it first.As you have figured out how to get the valve apart, why not take the valve out, reconnect it to the inlet hose and secure it over a bucket (not in the bucket) restore mains, switch on and see what happens.

Low fill level is caused by blocked pressure chamber or problematic pressure switch. I would look at the pressure chamber and its outlet, i bet its all gunked up

_________________Take it easy, a forum is only a collection of opinions. Above, are mine.

There is such a thing as a low pressure valve, for use when the water pressure is low.How ever you should test it first.As you have figured out how to get the valve apart, why not take the valve out, reconnect it to the inlet hose and secure it over a bucket (not in the bucket) restore mains, switch on and see what happens.

Low fill level is caused by blocked pressure chamber or problematic pressure switch. I would look at the pressure chamber and its outlet, i bet its all gunked up

Hey someone-else,

Thanks for the reply. I did check the pressure chamber and it was clean. There seems to be some adjustment screws on the pressure switch which I'll try adjusting. But first I want to deal with the hot water valve. Will try switching the machine on with the valve out as you suggested. Will get back with the results tomorrow.

The other thing is the pipe from the pressure chamber to the pressure switch they some times get whole in them due to being rubbed in the spin vibrations.Take the pipe off hold one end closed and blow down it, it should be hard to do, or you could just look for a warn bit.

_________________Take it easy, a forum is only a collection of opinions. Above, are mine.

The other thing is the pipe from the pressure chamber to the pressure switch they some times get whole in them due to being rubbed in the spin vibrations.Take the pipe off hold one end closed and blow down it, it should be hard to do, or you could just look for a warn bit.

Not going to be the pressure switch hose. It's a sort of star-shaped hose and the points keep it from rubbing through. I did blow into the pressure switch through that hose and could hear a two-stage click. Did not notice a pressure leak.

Well the only way a WM knows how much water is in it is by the pressure chamber / switch it has to be one of them. Have you taken the pressure chamber off and also looked where it was? it needs to be spotless, want to post a pic?

_________________Take it easy, a forum is only a collection of opinions. Above, are mine.

Well the only way a WM knows how much water is in it is by the pressure chamber / switch it has to be one of them. Have you taken the pressure chamber off and also looked where it was? it needs to be spotless, want to post a pic?

I'll post a pic tomorrow. The chamber was pretty clean. There was a small amount of some sort of salty stuff in there which I cleaned with a toothbrush. And also in the hole where it goes into the drum. Cleaned that too. Could my filling with a hose have messed things up? Like maybe throw out some sort of computer synchronisation if there is such? If there was a pressure leak, wouldn't it just keep filling? I'm just trying to run some scenarios through my head :) That pressure chamber doesn't go very high up, I was thinking maybe it can only fill as high as the chambers top end? I never really paid attention to it when I first moved in so don't really know if it's always been that way... I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Pressure chamber works by.............pressure. As water fills the main outer drum, the air in the pressure chamber get compressed, this is detected by the pressure switch. Modern machines dont use much water any way. They used to fill up around 1/3 the way up the door, not any more they don't Adding more water isn't that good an idea since it will take longer to heat it, but it will not do it any harm. Its when the water doesn't stop filling that you have a real problem.

_________________Take it easy, a forum is only a collection of opinions. Above, are mine.

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